Terrible times today for our neighbours down the QEII highway as 100,000 people in 26 communities have been evacuated from their homes due to flooding by recent heavy rains.

Much of downtown Calgary and areas near the Bow River is underwater and there are reports that the Saddledome has been flooded too and that the dressing rooms and the jumbotron have been destroyed.

The Canadian Military has been deployed and the EPS has sent 100 officers to help among efforts currently underway.

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Obviously as an Oilers fan we loving giving Calgarians a hard time. But there is no joking around in times like these and anyone looking to help can support the Canadian Red Cross here. Alternatively you can call 1-800-418-1111. Nation HQ has made a donation and we encourage everyone to do the same.

Being a Flames fan since 1980 and having lived in Calgary for close to 8 years and now living in Victoria, BC, with my father and sister and having my father pass away last month quite suddenly, I have been thinking a lot of good memories about Calgary and growing up there. There are no words to describe the pain that I feel for Calgary and this unbelievable tragedy. I would love to be able to volunteer my time and energy towards this terrible situation. My sincere thoughts and prayers are with you. (Calgary)

Just want to be a little less mundane than the other 99.9999% of contributors here. How sincere is it when a 10 second response here on this board is the limit to their contribution in this matter. What's wrong with a different perspective, or going against the current (no pun intended)

Just bored of all the usual insincere input here. Can we just stick to some controlled violence/hockey related conversation here on a hockey forum? Can't stand these bleeding heart interruptions.

Thanks Wayne for the kind thoughts. I happen to be stuck here, in my home, in Canmore. My wife's parents were evacuated last night and are now staying as dry as possible with us. The Bow River here is a few feet from breaching in the middle of town, we live only a block away, and the devastation of homes and businesses is on everyones mind. We have a great community here and everyone is pitching in when possible but there is a lot of work to be done.

Joker guy, sorry if people don't feel like talking hockey or exchanging insensitive jabs with you in this thread.

It's been pretty crazy down here. My place is safe and dry, but Nenshi's warning everyone even in non-evacuated areas that they could lose power/water at any time. No one's getting out of this.

Most people are going to need federal disaster relief, because you can't get personal homeowner flood insurance. I think it's been since the 2005 floods. Some people in condos might be ok (with massive deductibles (I've heard 25K-100K), because the condos can still get commercial flood insurance, but most homeowners will have to rely on the govn't to bail them out.

It's a bad day for everyone here in Southern Alberta. Thanks for the good thoughts (from those who have them). The next few weeks are going to be brutal.

Residential home are not covered, and only vehicles with a comprehensive package will be covered. Government will provide assistance, but more than likely a lot of the people affected by this will be screwed.

This is terrible stuff. Can't believe how bad it is there. We've had some bad rainfalls here, but nothing like that in my lifetime. I know some people who were evacuated too in various parts of southern Alberta.

All hockey hate aside, people are people, so it is awful to see this happening anywhere.

Ok...First off, my Thoughts and Prayers go down south to those affected by the awesome power of nature. Now with that out of the way.....

Flooded to Row 14?? The damage costs are going to hit SEVEN FIGURES. All the electrical controls for the Dome are at ice level, the things which control the video boards and such.

Not to mention the damage to the dressing rooms. All the lower bowl seats will need to be replaced.
It is late June now, the repairs needed to the Dome, which won't be known until the water recedes,will be extensive. I don't think the repairs will be finished in time for next season.

SASKATOON FLAMES???? Either they play some "home games" in S'Toon or they open for a historic X game roadie to start the season

Holy man! I spent 7 years in Calgary, all of it living in apartments in the Mission district. Spent alot of time biking along the river and I can tell you some years it got mega high. Always figured something bad would happen if you had an epic rain storm combined with massive spring runoff after a big snow year. Looks like it finally happened.

For all you flappy gums beaking off with snide remarks about Calgary, they just announced the Saskatchewan river is going to rise 3.5 meters in Edmonton in the next day or so. That's TEN FREAKING FEET!

Rossdale might be in trouble and a few other areas in the flood plain belt. Hope none of you live there or have relatives/friends down there. It could get intense here too.

The Flames just hit the arena lottery. If your the Redford government how do you say no to the city of Calgary and the Flames when they come asking for arena funding money now with the an arena that clearly is not in any way shape or form capable of serving the needs of its community now and in the future. An upgrade is needed clearly. The current location clearly is not safe longterm. The lon g term costs of maintaining a building that is affected by flood damage every few years is not in the best interests of Alberta taxpayers.Insurance will cover a lot but for how long and at what rate in the future can the Saddledome be insured and made safe?

The affected citizens in Calgary are safe thank goodness. 2-3? dead is unfortunate. Homes and possesions will be rebuilt and replaced. Hopefully it will all turn out right in the next few weeks. Stampede? A rethink on that perhaps. Calgary does not need to do half measures. More important things right now to be worried about.

I doubt there will be much federal relief. A couple of summers ago there was comparable flooding in southern Quebec and Manitoba, and it was up to the provincial governments to bail their people out. Very little came from the feds. I doubt the current government would change its stance now - people would cry favoritism.

With this in mind it is sad to hear the comments of the Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths, "The fact that a person didn't bother to buy insurance doesn't mean the government will pay for it"

They will likely get both federal and provincial disaster assistance funds.

They will have to decide whether they use those funds to repair the Saddledome or put them toward the construction of a new arena.

I would wager they'll do the latter.

Don't know if it matters that much. A new arena won't be built by October, so the Saddle has to be fixed. Maybe they could do a 5 year job instead of a 40 year job, but it won't be the decider for a new arena.

I doubt there will be much federal relief. A couple of summers ago there was comparable flooding in southern Quebec and Manitoba, and it was up to the provincial governments to bail their people out. Very little came from the feds. I doubt the current government would change its stance now - people would cry favoritism.

With this in mind it is sad to hear the comments of the Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths, "The fact that a person didn't bother to buy insurance doesn't mean the government will pay for it"

I am wishing all my fellow flames fans down south to please stay safe. You are all doing us very proud by being complete champs about this. There is no pissing and whining from what I've heard. Stay strong and be careful. Our thoughts are with you.

Here in Calgary we are staying strong and being optimistic. I talked to a guy who let me know the Saddledome was half full. I said, my friend, stay positive, it's half empty!!!

In reality, it's great to see the city come together in a disaster. Resilience is paramount and as Albertans we will all rise from this stronger. I think the weirdest thing as a Canadian is that we have everything so safe and secure seeing the large amount of green trucks filled with men in camo is different.